transmission

[trans-mish-uhn, tranz-]

noun

1. the act or process of transmitting.

   Synonyms: conveyance, passing, passage, transfer

2. the fact of being transmitted.

   Synonyms: conveyance, passing, passage, transfer

3. something that is transmitted.

4. Machinery.

   1. transference of force between machines or mechanisms, often with changes of torque and speed.

   2. a compact, enclosed unit of gears or the like for this purpose, as in an automobile.

5. Radio and Television.,  the broadcasting of electromagnetic waves from one location to another, as from a transmitter to a receiver.

6. Physics.,  transmittance.

transmission

/ trænzˈmɪʃən /

noun

1. the act or process of transmitting

2. something that is transmitted

3. the extent to which a body or medium transmits light, sound, or some other form of energy

4. the transference of motive force or power

5. a system of shafts, gears, torque converters, etc, that transmits power, esp the arrangement of such parts that transmits the power of the engine to the driving wheels of a motor vehicle

6. the act or process of sending a message, picture, or other information from one location to one or more other locations by means of radio waves, electrical signals, light signals, etc

7. a radio or television broadcast

Other Word Forms

• transmissiveness noun
• transmissibility noun
• transmissible adjective
• transmissive adjective
• transmissively adverb
• nontransmission noun
• pretransmission noun
• retransmission noun
• untransmissive adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of transmission¹

1605–15; < Latin trānsmissiōn- (stem of trānsmissiō ) a sending across, equivalent to trānsmiss ( us ) (past participle of trānsmittere to send across) + -iōn- -ion. See trans-, mission

Word History and Origins

Origin of transmission¹

C17: from Latin transmissiō a sending across; see _transmit

Example Sentences

Bird flu has already cost America billions — and if it mutates to allow for human-to-human transmission, the cost could soar into the hundreds of billions or even trillions of dollars.

Read more on Salon

District Court in Los Angeles on Tuesday claims that Edison was negligent in designing, constructing and maintaining its high-voltage transmission line that runs through Sylmar.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The illness, which causes fever and intense joint pain, does not pass directly between people, so reducing mosquito populations remains the most effective way to prevent transmission.

Read more on Science Daily

Bombing electricity generation, transmission and fuel was a distant third in tangible effects on Germany and Japan’s war efforts.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Another site near borough hall now commemorates the first worldwide broadcasts by a local radio station in the 1920s and “the earliest transmissions of electronic television images.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• broadcast 
• communication 
• delivery 
• gearbox